Fort Pearce Wash at the Fort Pierce Bridge, notably full flash flooded by storms, St. George, Utah, Aug. 18, 2014 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News | Caption CORRECTED the error of identifying this water as the Virgin River; Fort Pearce Wash converges with the Virgin River downstream

ST. GEORGE – A series of alerts issued by the National Weather Service Monday were vindicated as a severe thunderstorm crossed Washington County, impacting Washington City early and hard, flooding streets and homes, and later swelling the Virgin River significantly after a flash flood rushed through Fort Pearce Wash in the Bloomington Hills area of St. George.

An alert at 6:40 p.m.stated:

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE FORT PEARCE WASH ORIGINATING OUT OF ARIZONA AND FLOWING INTO UTAH HAS VERIFIED. THE FORT PEARCE WASH RIVER GAGE LOCATED SOUTH OF ST. GEORGE AS OF 6PM REPORTED A FLOW OF 7700 CFS. THE FLOW OF 7700 CFS IS A VERY DANGEROUS FLOOD AND IS MOVING TOWARDS THE AREA AROUND THE ST. GEORGE GOLF CLUB. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… IF YOU ARE NEAR THE FORT PEARCE WASH…TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE FOR YOUR SAFETY

By 7:40 p.m the water beneath the Fort Pierce Bridge in Bloomington Hills went from bone dry to full swell about six feet below the bridge which was lined with spectators. St. George News caught the fiercely flowing water between 7:40 and 8 p.m. on video.

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Videocast by Dave Amodt, St. George News

As of 9:30 p.m. the swell did not press upstream into the Santa Clara River at its point of confluence with the Virgin River and thus no visible flooding occurred at the Southgate Golf Course or car dealerships along Hilton Drive as another alert had warned.

Virgin River at Man of War Bridge, notably full and widened by storms, St. George, Utah, Aug. 18, 2014 | Photo by Joyce Kuzmanic, St. George News

The Virgin River was noticeably full at the Man of War Bridge in Bloomington, rushing with similar strength and turmoil to what is seen in the Fort Pierce Bridge video included.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

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About the Author

Joyce Kuzmanic has been editor in chief of St. George News since 2012, having contributed as a reporter and assistant editor since the publication's inception in 2010. Before St. George News, Joyce has been a private business owner and enjoyed a long career as a paralegal in real estate, business and tax law transactions.
She enjoys hospitality, thinking, reading and adventuring in the great outdoors. Joyce currently resides in St. George with her husband and her dog, Scratch.

28 Comments

Yeah, don’t you people remember when the tiny Santa Clara “River” washed out the bridge? Don’t be stupid. Get away from flood waters, and certainly don’t stand on a structure that could be compromised. You could die!

What’s wrong with standing on that bridge? It’s not like it will be going anywhere just because there is some water flowing underneath it. That’s what bridges are for. They are built to flow large amounts of water under them.
Now if the water was flowing over the top, there “might” be some danger in somebody losing their footing and falling down or into the river.
Wow, what some worry warts around here.

Now if only we could get consistent Pierce vs. Pearce spelling. The BLM refers to the actual fort as “Fort Pearce” and on their historic site web page refers to the was as “Fort Pearce Wash.” The EPA’s web site refers to the entire drainage basin as the Fort Pierce drainage basin. An interesting tangent for some I suppose…

You are right, TE in all respects, best I can tell. We clarified the report immediately upon publishing as to the flash flooding the Fort Pearce Wash – running under the Fort Pierce Bridge in the Bloomington Hills area of St. George and converging with the Virgin River. But I missed the photo caption, and will take care of that now.
What’s in a name? One commenter stated that the variable spellings of Fort Pearce / Pierce come from the developer who named the road Fort Pierce Drive rather than Fort Pearce Drive, thereby forever cementing the confusion in the spellings – and it would make sense that the EPA might name a drainage basin consistent with a development. It would seem the actual wash and the fort predated the development, and yet – once named … the challenge of Pearce / Pierce will trouble us again, I’m sure.
Thank you for the tangent, I enjoyed it – now, did you enjoy the video?
Share with us anytime,
ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief

You know what would be even easier than washing the city away? Putting you on a plane. 🙂 Seriously, why do you hate it so much? It’s fun! There’s golf, good restaurants, national parks, good weather, and Las Vegas is close!